Professional Bio
Ph.D. in Human Communication Studies, University of Denver, Summer 2008
Dissertation: A Rhetorical History of Academic Freedom from 1900 to 2006.
M.A. in Speech Communication, Colorado State University, Summer 1999.
Thesis: Organizational Hegemony: Culture, Power, and Communication. Directed by Dr. Denny Phillips.
B.A. in Speech Communication, Humboldt State University, May 1995
Research & Scholarship
Research Experience
University of Denver Center for Civic Ethics
Assistant to Drs. Hicks and Wood, 2002-Present
- Content analysis of New York Times editorials
- Created coding sheet for New York Times project.
- Interviewed Denver Board of Ethics project participants
- Coded written and interview data
- Produced report for Denver Board of Ethics
Nurse Home Visitation Project
Assistant to Drs. Hicks and Larson, University of Denver, Summer 2003
- Interviewed project participants
- Coded interview data
- Researched and wrote papers evaluating concepts key to the study
The Immigrant Adventure Project
City of Aurora, CO and the Mizel Museum of Judaica, Summer 2003
- Conducted interviews with project participants
- Constructed narratives from interview data
- Built and educational program around the participants’ narratives
- Trained museum employees to present educational program
Convention Presentations and Scholarship
- (1999) Technology and the Concept of Audience. Paper presented at the 1999 Western States Communication Association annual convention, Vancouver, B.C., February 19-23.
- (2000) Competitive paper reviewer, Western States Communication Association, Media Studies Division.
- (2002) Fear Appeals in Public Argument about Genetically Modified Foods. Co-written with Dr. Michael Bruner, Humboldt State University. Paper presented at the 2002 National Communication Association annual convention, New Orleans, LA, November 20-23.
- (2003) Organizational Hegemony. Paper presented at the 2003 Rocky Mountain Communication Association annual convention, Boulder, CO, January 18.
- (2004) Levinasian Dialogue and Fatherhood: Interaction with my Daughters as Others. Paper presented at the 2004 National Communication Association annual convention, Chicago, IL, November 14.
- (2005) Political Reasonableness: A Content Analysis of the New York Times 1860-2004. Paper presented at the 2005 Western States Communication Association annual Convention, San Francisco, CA, February 18. With Darrin Hicks and Krissy Warrenburg.
- (2005) Reasonable Accommodations: What it Means to be ‘Right’ in the College Classroom. Paper presented at the 2005 Western States Communication Association annual Convention, San Francisco, CA, February 18.
- (2005) Political Reasonableness: A Content Analysis of the New York Times 1860-2004. Paper presented at the Ontario Society for the Study of Argumentation annual conference, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, May 20.
- (2006) David Horowitz’s ‘Trouble with Principle.’ Paper presented at the 2006 National Communication Association annual convention. San Antonio, TX, November 16.
- (2006) Franklyn Haiman and John Peters: A comparison of free speech stories. Paper presented at the 2006 National Communication Association annual convention. San Antonio, TX, November 16. Top Paper, Freedom of Expression Division.
- (2007) “My Professor is a Marxist Indoctrinator”: Victimization Narratives and the. Academic Freedom Movement. Paper presented at the 2007 Western States Communication Association annual conference. Seattle, WA, February 18.
- (2007) Competitive paper reviewer, Rocky Mountain Communication Association, Rhetoric division.
- (2007) Competitive paper reviewer, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Graduate Education division.
- (2008) Competitive paper reviewer, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Open Competition division.
- (2008) Conviction and the College Classroom: A One Hundred Year Battle to Silence the Passionate Professor. Paper presented at the 2008National Communication Association annual convention. San Diego, CA, November 21.
- (2009) Reviewer, Western Journal of Communication
- (2010) Ann Coulter is a Deadhead? The Socio-Political Implications of Deadheadism. Paper presented at the 2010 Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association annual conference. Albuquerque, NM, February 11.
- (2010) Out of Step with the World: The Constitutive Rhetoric of the American Straight Edge Scene in the Early and Mid-1980s. Paper presented at the 2010 Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association annual conference. Albuquerque, NM, February 11.
- (2007-2010) Reviewer Association for education journalism and mass communication.
- (2006-2010) Reviewer Communication Law Review.
- (2010) Competitive paper reviewer, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Open Competition division.
- (2011-Present) Reviewer Free Speech yearbook
- (2011) Alito’s Dissent: Words That Hurt Revisited. Paper presented at upcoming 2011 National Communication Association annual convention. New Orleans, LA, November 19.
Publications
- Margesson, R. J. (2005) The Competing Free Speech Philosophies of Franklyn Haiman and John Dunham Peters Through the Lens of Skokie, Illinois 1978. Communication Law Review 6:1.
- D. Hicks, R. Margesson, & K. Warrenburg, (2005) Political Reasonableness: A Content Analysis of the New York Times 1860-2004. The Uses of Argument: The Proceedings of a conference at McMaster University 18-21 May 2005, D. Hitchcock and D. Farr eds. pp. 190-198, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, May 18-21.
- D. Hicks, R. Margesson, & K. Warrenburg, (2005) Political Reasonableness in Contemporary Argumentation Theory: A Content Analysis of the New York Times, 1860-2004, Contemporary Argumentation and Debate: The Journal of the Cross Examination Debate Association, 26, pp. 1-12.